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New-look Fiji Airways makes official debut

Fiji Airways officials takes its place among the world's airlines today. It's not a new airline, but rather a thorough rebranding from its previous run as Air Pacific. Beyond the name, Fiji Airways also is

"The key reason is we want to align ourselves closer with Fiji as a destination," Aubrey Swift, interim CEO of the airline now known as Fiji Airways, says to Today in the Sky. "Fiji is a wonderful set of islands in the middle of the South Pacific. So we want to align ourselves that as a destination because we think it's a fantastic selling proposition to people who are looking for something a bit different."

"Our current name Air Pacific, some people think we're an air conditioning company," Swift jokes about the outgoing Air Pacific name. "So it doesn't really align. What we're finding with Fiji, we basically align ourselves well and truly with that country and that brand and we think we're going to get better traction in the market and better recognition. And that will convert into more bookings and more people visiting Fiji, which is good for the country."

But the motivation rebranding is twofold, according to Swift.

He says the company also is "using it as an opportunity to refresh ourselves from top to bottom and revitalized and modernize our product. We're doing it in two ways. One is creating a products that are going to be comfortable and people want to buy and it's a good way to travel. The second is we want something that looks and feels Fijian. Something that's an authentic experience. Something that means your Fiji holiday starts when you get on the plane."

Fiji Airways serves only two U.S. destinations — Los Angeles and Honolulu — from its main base at the Nadi International Airport. But Swift points out "we also have codeshare partners in Alaska and American (airlines). So, in that respect, we have 25 destinations in North America."

Those partners, Swift says, cover cities across the USA and Canada, giving customers there options both to Fiji "and beyond to the South Pacific islands and on to Australia and New Zealand. So, in that respect, we've got quite a network."

"We do run a network, not just a route destination," Swift continues. "We offer a straight-forward connecting service with convenient timing — particularly to Sydney and Auckland. We've also got opportunities we provide for people for stopovers. And that proves quite popular were people are happy to stop over for a couple of days and break their journey and enjoy your journey."

When asked if growth plans are in Fiji Airways' future, Swift says:

"Looking forward, one of the things we're doing here is building a platform for a sustainable, modern, efficient profitable airline. Then we will look in the future as to whether there are opportunities to grow and add more destinations."

For now, though, Swift and the company are focused on today's rebranding of Air Pacific into Fiji Airways.

"We've very excited. It's a great day for the company and the staff. We think our product is going to be world-class and a wonderful experience for our guests." Swift says.